The Righteous Brothers were the hottest act in the mid sixties... they had 22 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and in 1965 had three albums on the Top Twenty simultaneously. For their first three years they did rock 'roll and 'hard' R&B but then were taken on by Phil Specter who gave them emotional ballads backed by his famous 'wall of sound'. Psychedelic rock overtook their style but their voices and stunning harmony are timeless. Although they split at different times as a group, they continued to sing together to full houses until Bobby's sudden death in 2003 just hours before they were to go on stage.
I was 7 and a half years old watching it live on TV the Andy Williams show. Bobby cwas nervous because his Mom was in the audience. She had never heard him perform on live TV. At the end you see Bobby biting his lower lip. He new he'd knocked it out of the ballpark. He did it perfect. Other's have done this song. But none have not done it the justice like Bobby did. At everywhere they performed at. Not even the original artist who first recorded the song. I'll let you research it on your own. Just sit back and enjoy the music we still love today.
Beatnik generation was the’50’s. This was the hippie generation. This solo performance by Bobby Hatfield was in the Oct. 25th broadcast of “The Andy Williams Show “. He was able to easily hit the high notes because he was a counter tenor. He married Joy Colsants on Oct. 30, 1965 in Las Vegas. His mom and fiancée were in the audience. BTW, the audience was instructed to be respectful and considerate during the performance due to it being a prime time tv production.
I watch these reactions and wait for the reactions to the last part of his performance with a smile on my face. Yes the amazing range and so effortless which I think contributes to the surprise by those hearing for the first time. I was so lucky to have grown up in the era of the 60s and 70s. So much choice in music. Yes simpler times.
This was my era with the Righteous Brothers and we called them “Blue Eyed Soul Brothers “ they were amazing. I’m 68 years young and I have their music on my playlist today. Enjoy 🙌🏽👍🏽
Unchained Melody was the love theme song for the movie Ghost with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore. This was a very powerful movie, especially now that we know of Patrick's death.
Elvis sang this song just a short time before he died, but he was in bad shape so it wasn't his best effort. Bobby's version still reigns supreme. RIP Bobby!
This was the first time Bobby's mom ever got to see her son perform, and he turned out what is considered the greatest solo live performance of all time!
Live, no auto tune. Amazing vocals. He was so nervous before performing this, his parents were in the audience and he was worried he would be able to hit his high note. He nailed it❤️ Chills
As someone who has heard this more than a million times and watched this live performance thousands of times, one thing that I still find remarkable is after Bobby has just sang his heart out, without even trying it seems, he does this little humble smile, almost shy looking. He doesn't even need to take in a breath like you see many others have to do. Pure talent. Beautiful to see and hear.
He looks so confident and yet so humble. Note how he never breaks a sweat (literally: not a drop in sight - compare that to Elvis pouring gallons after a song).
I'm 74 and lived thru this time and it was the greatest time for music. I believe the song was written and first sung in the late 40's early 50's for a movie by the same name. I could literately listen to this song every day, IF my wife would let me. Try "You've Lost That Lovin' feeling" It is just as good as this song and had Bill Medley singing with Bobby. My opinion, Bill sing just as awesome as Bobby. Together they ARE the best duo ever!
This was written for the 1955 movie Unchained, about a prisoner pining for his love. It was recorded by many both before and after this solo by Bobby Hatfield, but Bobby's version is the gold standard. It was featured in the1990 film Ghost. I recommend you check out both Righteous Brothers performing You'll Never Walk Alone on the Ed Sullivan Show. Also, the most played song on the airwaves of the 20th century, You've Lost That Loving Feeling.
Many consider this to be the best live vocal performance ever recorded. This was broadcast live as part of The Andy Williams Show. Williams, who was no slouch himself as a vocalist, had the brothers on his show, and it became one of the most watched TV performances ever, to that date, and for years after.
Listen to “Somewhere, summertime, you’ve lost that loving feeling (Bobby adds so much that nobody can even com close to. That’s true of all his songs. See “Ghosts”. This song made it a second time.
Bobby was unique, one of a kind, special. Not only was he outrageously handsome, with a beautiful spirit, but his range was insane. For me, Bobby was the voice of the Righteous Brothers. You didn't just hear the music, you felt it. He put you under a spell and it's not just this song, but every solo he did. Bobby was, is, and will always be, my favorite male singer. There will never be another like him...
Yes I saw a video where the guy did computer analysis and said 22...but I"ve seen others suggest 24-25... either way it quite impressive though I,'m no expert and don't know the normal range...I just know what I like when i hear it...and this performance will never be matched...best wishes
Hundreds of people have sung this song (the studio version was in the film 'Ghost') but none have sung it better than Bobby Hatfield. No auto tune, gimmicks just pure talent. He had a cold, his mother was watching him sing professionally for the first time and he suffered with stage fright. Look how he hits that last high note without contorting his face like most other singers do when hitting a high note and there is just a little smile to say 'I nailed it'.
Live, no autotune and no retakes. Pure talent. This is a once in a millennium performance that belongs in the Smithsonian for preservation. Its better than the studio version they recorded.
I 100% ABSOLUTELY agree that this should be preserved for eternity. It’s timeless especially with his voice. Song is from the movie Unchained and many have covered it but NONE can come close to this fantastic unique version. I was 15 when I first heard this and it was so mesmerizing I literally couldn’t move. Over the decades I’ve had dozens and dozens of‘favorite’ songs, but this song reigns supreme even at 73 years of age. Thank you SO MUCH your appreciation for this masterpiece.
@@TexasRose50 The song features in the movie "Ghost" - it was written and was a hit a long time before then. It was actually written for the 1955 film "Unchained". 🙂
Yes Bobby had a cold here singing this song but he wanted to get it right for his Mum in the Audience and i think we can safely say that he achieved this !👏👏👏👏👏👏
@@oldschool72 You're wrong ,he did , it's a well known fact and i saw as many of us did them on the Andy Williams Show but I'm not here to argue ,i have better things to do with my time !Good day !
I think we have just lived through a "golden era" of music, something that happens maybe, maybe every 100 years or so. We are so very lucky to have been born during this era!
Written for the prison movie,"Unchained", it was sung by one of the prisoners who misses his love and is lamenting how slowly the hours pass by...he worries what the time will do to their love..."and time can do so much"... will she still be his...."are you still mine?" A song of longing.
The duet usually sang together, but Bobby had a solo for this one. They probably decided the song would be most effective sung alone. How right they were as this performance is the one I learned this song by and probably heard the first time from. Also note that this is a live performance-no auto tune, etc.! Find some other songs of theirs. I know you will love them if you enjoy good harmony.
It was always Bobby's solo from before he met Bill, with his group The Variations. He brought it to the studio to be his solo for an album. They always did solos throughout their career together.
@@Aurora-tp3dy That's true, but for this album both Bobby and Bill wanted to record it as a solo. They flipped a coin and Bobby won. The rest is history.
@@danieldickson8591 The coin flip never happened. It was just Bill years later, and probably tired of being asked why it wasn't a duet, saying they might have tossed a coin. Before that he always said it was Bobby's song which Bobby brought in for the "Just Once In My Life" album. Also, I've seen them talking about it. That story isn't mentioned just how easy it was for Bobby to record since he had been singing it for years. They both did solos throughout their career on records and in their shows. Funny how no one wonders why Bobby isn't on Bill's solos. Bill produced the studio recording, played piano, and sang the nearly inaudible background vocals.
That song came out when I was in Junior High school in the mid 60's. A wonderful song to slow dance to. I have never heard this song performed better. It's just one of those songs that should never be recorded by anyone else. It's a Master Piece!
Thank you for your polite,respectful critique of this amazing artist/song. You are so sincere, genuine and respectful of not only the artist, but your audience also. Yours is the only channel of this kind that I intend to watch in future.
Our boyfriends, husbands, friends were fighting the war in Vietnam and we didn't understand Why. This song resonated in our hearts, both the men in Vietnam and us waiting and praying they would return home.
Bobby takes me to a time I never knew. He was old enough to be my father and I'm here almost 60y later melting at his every note. Handsome and touched by God. I highly recommend you check Summertime, another solo, to be absolutely blown away. RIP Bobby - so handsome with unparalleled talent.❤
Bobby Hatfield was a countertenor. Not a very common voice and the highest range for men. You usially hear it mostly in opera but there are a few who chose other music genres like Bobby. This looked easy for him because it was...even with a cold.
His beautiful sound was known in the 60's as "blue-eyed soul". His voice draws out emotions now, almost 60 years later, as much as it did then. Your reaction is priceless!!!
my husband was at sea in the navy for 2 years ......things were simpler but life was hard and this song was the favorite for the wives left behind.......so happy it's still appreciated. My 'sailor' has passed after 5 decades of married joy. This song was part of our life and I will love it and him forever.
The great Bobby Hatfield. This always gives me chills. It had a major resurgence when it was featured in the movie Ghost. EVERYONE knows the scene it featured in. If you want to check out both members, then watch "You've Lost That Loving Feeling". They were sensational. Just a little daydream, but it would be awesome if V & Jin did a duet to this. The baritone and the belter... magic. However, this version sets an incredibly high bar for anyone wanting a revisit to the song. I'd be nervous for the artist who wanted to do it. It's not just about technical proficiency, it's about emotion and nostalgia.
No, this is not a dual performance. You need to listen to more of the songs together. I was 15 years old when I watched him sing this beautiful song on the Andy Williams show in 1965. No one sang like he did. His voice was so awesome!!! RIP Bobby! 💖 🙏
👍🏼 I was 16 in 1965 & probably wouldn't have heard nearly as many of the Righteous Brothers' songs if it weren't for a girlfriend of mine & her boyfriend. They were crazy about this duo & bought every album from the beginning. Such great artists!
They each always included solos on albums because their voices were so different. This was one of Bobby's, and it became a hit and also his signature song.
I graduated high school in 1965, this was my time! Enrolled at the University, got married, enlisted, served in Viet. during Tet all in the 60's. Every time I hear Bobby Hatfield sing "Unchained Melody" it brings back both memories & tears.
Bobby Hatfield was one of the greatest singers ever, this great song is one of the best!! When he teams up with Bill Medley they belt out such very good songs as You Lost that Loving Feeling, Soul and Inspiration Just once in my Life Ebb Tide ( Bobby did this by himself as Unchained Melody. They were on 🔥🔥🔥 FIRE doing Little Latin Lupe Lu and The Night Time is the Right Time. Best of success on yr channel
I loved the Righteous Brothers for decades. Such a beautiful song! With no modern enhancements, and still gorgeous tone and range! Hooray for Bobby Hatfield!
Oh, the good old days! We had the best music back then. I feel so blessed to have lived through this time in history. Viet Nam, Race Riots, Civil Rights Movement, Nixon, Landing on the Moon, Beatniks, Picasso, Hot Rods, 57 Chevy, Corvette, Woodstock, Free Love, Flower Children, Hippies, Haight Ashbury, Tang, Twiggy, Remington Typewriters, Velcro, Abortion and Birth Control, Strawberry Hill, The Beatles, Assassinations of John F Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, American Bandstand, Nuclear Bombs, Elvis Presley, Rolling Stones, Coppertone, Alka Seltzer in a glass bottle, Polyester, Color TV, Transistor Radios, The Hula Hoop, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Ed Sullivan, Leave it to Beaver, Mayberry with Don Knotts, The Cool Guys with Crew Cuts & DAs, Penmanship, Barbie, and we were so naively innocent back then. We were taught in school that if we were attacked by a Nuclear Bomb, you would be safe hiding under your desk. My grandchildren tell me that they wished they lived back then.
This song makes me so nostalgic thinking of me as a teenager dancing cheek to cheek with my first crush, who is not alive anymore. 😢 Just imagine him singing today with better microphone and sound equipment. One of my favourites was also Karen Carpenter. Greetings from the Land Down Under 😊
@@nickforell1 Good old days w/no auto tune. Just good old talent U need to dive into Dimashi. Every song he shocks u …. Try Sinful Passion and The Story of One Sky. The live one but b sure to watch his vid of it. Heartbreaker. Luv ur vids. 🐥🇨🇦🐥
@@nickforell1 You've Lost That Loving Feeling should definitely be your next Righteous Brothers. Bobby Hatfield and his partner, Bill Medley, harmonize on it like no one else can. That song received more radio play than any other in the Twentieth Century.
Never anyone like Bobby. Never will be. He was also singing to his new bride, Joy.the tone, the vibratto...Bobby was a counter-tenor, could go Baritone to G5 or higher . You must hear them together. You love harmony, you'll love them together. Duo or solo, they were the best of the best. Bobby is gone from us. Bill is still is touring.
Ghost came out the summer I was 14. I was visiting my grandma and begged her to go see it. Quite an intense movie for that age and the love scene was no exception ... all while sitting next to my grandma. I'd never been quite that uncomfortable before. She wasn't especially keen, either, and we shared a look afterwards that said, "let's never speak of this again." Unchained Melody is one of the most beautiful, perfect songs ever written. Period. But for me it's also forever a reminder of being a squirmish teenager watching Moore and Swayze getting pottery-hottery in a crowded Los Angeles theater with my equally-uncomfortable grandma. Lol
This was on the Andy Williams show, he was also a singer...Moon River...Bobby Hatfield's mother was in the audience....Vietnam Era...very popular song ....the separation from your girlfriend/wife was strong....this song says it all... 💛
First time on your site and I must say how much I loved your critique of this number. I am of this era and this version of the song has always been, in my opinion, the most beautiful. His voice range is tremendous and so beautiful. It will always be one of my most favourite love songs.
If you listen really close , you can hear the panties drop .. BTW , no auto-tune ,, just a guy and a cheap 1960's mic , no sound board & engineer , nothing but pure , natural talent on display .. Freakin Amazing !!!! I heard that song on the radio in 1965 with my gal snuggled up close to me . Those were the days my friend
Nick, you are very insightful with your comments of this loveliest of love songs done flawlessly by Bobby. It was my wife's and my favorite when we were in high school in the mid-sixties. We just celebrated our 56th wedding anniversary.
I am 66 years old, and I can tell you that this song was used as the first Wedding Dance for many many people, for many years. Very popular for Wedding First Dance.
Obviously, you did not see the movie “Ghost”. They used Bobby Hatfield’s recording of this in the one romantic scene. Also, you mentioned the Ed Sullivan Show, the Righteous Brothers doing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. Also, review their mega-hit “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”. If you want more soul, listen to Bobby’s “Summertime” and Bill Medley’s “I Just Want To Make Love to You” and (You’re My) Soul and Inspiration”.
Check out some of their less known songs. I Just Want To Make Love To You, What did I Say ( with AndyvWilliams), Summertime, Nightime is the Right Time with the Blossoms from Shindig. The tv show Shindig was geared to teens and frquently featured The Righteous Brothers. No longer beatnik generation. Moving into the hippy era.
Bobby is a countertenor and amaizingly versatil. Yess listen to Summertime and Bill’s I wanna make love to you 🔥 and understand why they where the Blue eyed soul
You need to back up this video to the humorous chat between Bobby, Bill and Andy Williams. This was the Andy Williams show. Other posters have said they were wearing pink because it was Valentine’s Day. I loved the studio version of this song, but this live performance with the more dramatic ending just blows me away! Pure talent!
But, it wasn't Valentine's day, it was October 25. I think a guy wearing shades of pink make some people uncomfortable so they have to explain it away. Silly really.
I saw them live in Reno in … 2001 or so.,. Well past their peak and prime they still held it down quiet well. i took the love of my life. And it took time to heal what we took for granted and lost in our youth. Didn’t see her for 17 years. Marry the girl … sort it out later …pls. 🥀ROGAN🇺🇸2024💀
The song is a classic from the 40s .I saw them every weekend for about two years. One of the brothers died already. They were one of the first white groups to embrace R&B.
You really need to check out more from them. Each have powerful voices. When singing together they complement each other’s range. Soul and Inspiration. You’ve lost that lovin feeling. I just want ant to make love to you. Summertime. Just a few of their songs they really showcase their talents
❤ always Love this song it’s nice seeing new listeners meet legends now that you have reacted to RB , now you’ll want to watch Angelina Jordan version as a -11-12 year old singing in a room , probably at home , RB would be proud & honoured of her cover to me it’s Outstanding & Beautiful.
